Snapped
by Very Swampeh
Summary: Roy Mustang finally learns who murdered Hughes. Manga-verse, chapter 93 spoilers all over the place. One-shot.


**I was really impressed with Chapter 93 and well... The plot bunny bit me. All the dialogue is from the manga; I just kind of turned it into a written story. Watch out for the language! Ed's a potty mouth.**

**Now that this is out of the way, maybe I can actually work on some of my other stories...**

The explosion was impressive; Roy Mustang had to admit that to himself. The fire had blasted the door off of its hinges and Fullmetal had been blown a good twenty feet across the room. The white soul-dolls were scattered about and the other occupants in the room turned to stare at the sudden interruption.

Colonel Mustang sighed and stepped into the room, glancing about. "So, you're the reason there are so many guards outside." Behind him, Hawkeye raised her gun, eyes trained on the soul-dolls. Mustang casually raised his hand, poised to snap. "Perhaps you need a hand, Fullmetal?" he asked calmly, his black coat flowing about him in the smoke in an oh-so-impressive way.

Across the room, Fullmetal picked himself up off the floor and cuffed some of the sweat off of his face. "Stop waiting just so you can make a grand entrance, Colonel!" he spat, obviously not impressed with Mustang's striking pose.

Mustang lowered his hand and closed his eyes, a smirk on his face. "Takes you back, doesn't it Lieutenant?" The black-haired man sighed and small Armstrong-like sparkle appeared next to him. "Such pure tears… If only I can see them again…" He trailed off and glanced over at the blonde sniper hopefully.

She glared at him and flicked the gun in his direction. "I thought you hated the water. It makes you useless!"

The Colonel looked away, hurt. "Useles- Scar!" he exclaimed, gaping at the Ishballan, who was in the process of blowing up one of the dolls. What the hell was he doing here?

Scar glanced up, red eyes gleaming. "We'll talk later!" he snapped, turning to face another mob of the dolls. "Just start fighting!"

A vein twitched on Mustang's face. Who did this man think he was? "Don't try to order _me_ around-"

"Roger!" Hawkeye called, taking aim with her gun and completely ignoring the Colonel.

Mustang swung around to face her, mouth hanging open. She was _ignoring _him! Oh, the shame! The humanity!

Meanwhile, Fullmetal had thrown himself back into the fight. He glanced up as Hawkeye stepped closer, gun raised and ready to fire. "It won't work, Lieutenant!" he called before she could shoot.  
"Yeah! Bullets don't hurt them!" Darius added helpfully as he smashed the skull of one of the dolls.

Hawkeye looked down at her pistol with a heartbroken look on her face. "Not again!" She stepped back, gun no longer aimed, but still ready to fire. "They don't work on anything these days…"

Mustang was silent, observing the fighting for a moment. His hand went to his chin as he watched. Everyone seemed to be aiming for the legs of the dolls… "Ah, so we should target their legs, then." Yes, that seemed simple enough.

Fullmetal growled and punched one of the dolls in the face before turning to Mustang, lips curled back. "Quit posing, you ass! Hurry up and help-"

Really, Fullmetal could be so annoying. So before the shrimp could say anymore, Mustang snapped.

Fire tore through the room, curling around the legs of the dolls and scorching them right through the bone. The dolls let out an odd wail and crumpled, one by one, onto the ground. A few of them were completely destroyed.

Mustang watched with amusement as Fullmetal gawked at the damage, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. The Colonel snorted and stuffed one hand in his pocket. "If these things really gave you that much trouble, you've got a long way to go," he advised.

It was a groaning noise that caught Mustang's attention. He glanced over Fullmetal's shoulder (well, over Fullmetal completely; the blond was still shorter than him) as some pieces of the ceiling began to rain down. Then a large piece fell, showering the ground with metal, pipes, and a couple of dolls.

Fullmetal glanced up towards the top of the doors. "Mei?!" he exclaimed, and Mustang followed his gaze to the little Xing girl and her strange cat clinging to the top part of the doors.

There was a shuffling noise from the pile of debris and lean, spiky-haired figure got up, coughing. He glanced over at the group, and frowned. "What? You guys?"

"Envy!" Fullmetal hissed as Mei scooted down the doors and trotted over to Scar.

Envy scowled and scratched the back of his neck as he inspected the soul-dolls. "Oh, geeze, look what they did to you guys…" The Homunculus tilted his head as Scar and Mei began to argue, the young girl on the verge of tears. "The Fullmetal Alchemist, the Flame Alchemist, Scar, and the damn chimeras from up north, too?" The amazement was clear in his voice, but it quickly changed to a calm, yet eager, excitement. "Well then… Who do I start with?" He licked his lips slowly, like he could already taste the blood.

Mustang raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You're Envy? The shape-shifting Homunculus?"

The Homunculus smirked, looking pleased. "Heh, so you've heard of me," he said, cocking his head to the side. "It's nice to meet you Colonel Mustang… Hey, wait. You cool with this, Scar?" The lean figure turned to face the Ishballan. "He's a state alchemist who fought in the Ishbal War, remember?"

Scar remained impassive. "I'm aware," he replied shortly.

Envy glanced between Mustang and Scar, an "I-can't-believe-this" expression plastered on his face. "You're teaming up? _Lame_!" he drawled, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Come on! Let's see some strife. I can't get enough of you insects fighting amongst yourselves." Fullmetal's eyebrow twitched. "The again, I can't have the Colonel bite the dust just yet!" The Homunculus broke off into laughter.

Mustang sighed and closed his eyes. "I don't have time to play your pathetic games."

"Pathetic? Let me ask you something." Envy stepped forward, splaying his fingers across his chest. "Don't you humans enjoy watching others suffer, watching fools dance around like puppets? That's why you start wars, isn't it?"

The Colonel tapped his chin with a finger, a small smirk dancing on his face. "I do enjoy watching foolish creatures dance like puppets on a string," he admitted, ignoring Fullmetal's burst of outrage next to him. The smirk grew as he continued. "Especially you Homunculi. Nothing makes me laugh like watching you all run around trying to carry out your insane plans."

A vein throbbed on Envy's face and Mustang knew he'd found a sensitive area. Maybe things weren't going as well as the Homunculi had hoped… "I've answered your question," he continued, face hardening. "Now it's my turn… Who killed Maes Hughes?"

The silence was thick, and Mustang kept his gaze trained on Envy. Next to him, Fullmetal was staring at him in surprise.

Envy huffed and put his hands on his hips. "Why, Maria Ross. You burned her to death yourself-"

"No." Mustang cut Envy off before the Homunculus could go any further. "I know it wasn't her."

"Oh!" Envy looked excited at the news. "So you torched an innocent woman then? Man, that's brutal. How'd you break the news to her family? Were you in tears? Or were you too angry with yourself to even-"

Again, Mustang felt the need to interrupt. "For the love of god, _shut up_, idiot."

Envy twitched so hard that Mustang could have sworn he heard the creature's neck snap.

He was getting sick of this. "Getting answers out of you Homunculi is like pulling teeth," he snapped, disregarding Envy's murderous look. "Now tell me what I want to know- Who killed Hughes?"

Envy was silent for a moment before bowing his head and laughing, the volume increasing steadily. "Ha! Congratulations, Colonel Mustang. You finally caught me."

Fullmetal jerked in surprise; Hawkeye had her gun aimed at the Homunculus before Mustang had the chance to blink. The Colonel glared at Envy from the corner of his eyes. "I seriously doubt an imbecile like you took down Hughes." No, there was no way Hughes would let such a stupid creature kill him.

Envy's smirk grew and his head jerked up, eying Mustang hungrily. "An imbecile is someone like Hughes, who falls for a stupid trick like this!" And suddenly Enjoy was gone, replaced with Gracia. Mustang felt his stomach clench at the sight- it was Gracia, but in a horrid, twisted way. The eyes were too narrow, the malicious grin too wide and out of place.

Envy cackled, slim fingers tracing Gracia's face. "The color just drained from yor face! I love it! Hughes had that same look when I murdered him! _That same face! _The despair of seeing someone with his wife's face shoot him! I love it!" The Homunculus dissolved into laughter, reveling in the horror in the expressions of practically every occupant in the room.

"That's it." Mustang's voice was cold and hard. "You killed Hughes. That's all I need to know," he growled, flexing his fingers and pulling his gloves on snugly. "There's no need to say anymore, Envy. The first thing I'm going to turn to ash is your tongue!"

He remembered that people often remarked that revenge was a dish best served cold. But Roy Mustang couldn't disagree more: Revenge was best delivered hot- flaming, hellfire and brimstone hot. It was a good thing he was able to provide such fire. The rage roared to life inside of him, screaming for vengence and retribution. He'd be damned if he let Envy walk away from this alive. And this had been what Hughes had been trying to tell him about; Hughes had known all along and had been killed for it.

Those bastards.

And with that, Colonel Roy Mustang snapped.

**Yay for symbolic endings! The English nerd in me rejoices. I tried a new style of writing- I tried to distance the reader from the characters; they are only referred to by their last or professional names. I never call Mustang Roy or Edward Ed. Dunno if I actually managed to pull that off, though. **


End file.
